


Ghost of You

by LotharWinchester



Series: Give Me the Truth [6]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Drunken Confessions, Mentions of miscarriage, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Institute - Freeform, Transgender Sole, Transgender Sole Survivor, angst seems to be the only thing i'm good at at the moment, drunk!arthur, mentions of the Citadel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-05-16 18:58:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5837218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotharWinchester/pseuds/LotharWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set before "Oh Death" and is backstory for the alternate ending to the "Tell Me the Truth" series.</p><p>Arthur and Aiden's takes on the months leading up to their final battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am in Hell right now with my personal life and I was supposed to put the alternate ending up but this is coming first. upside is I finally got Word to work on this computer so i can write more.
> 
> Don't worry, the alternate ending is happier by Fallout standards. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't won Fallout, Bethesda does.

It had become routine.

Elder duties, drink, smoke, and repeat.

Aiden haunted every aspect of his life. He no longer felt comfortable on his own ship, the command deck was colder and his own bedroom might as well have been a tomb.

Cade was the only one becoming increasingly aware of how little he slept. And how much he drank.

The commands to take a wife from the Citadel surely didn’t help.

He refused. Arthur withheld Octavia’s lineage from everyone, especially the Citadel. They didn’t even know she existed.

But this was new.

Arthur Maxson held the ring between his thumb and index finger while he drank another shot of straight vodka.  It was foolish and he damn well knew it.  He hadn’t let anyone this close since Sarah but, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it. 

_“Do you love me?”_

“Yes.” His voice shook as he slowly moved the ring to examine the imperfections he’d missed earlier.   _Of course it’s not perfect, you used destroyed Power Armor pieces._ He sighed and took a long drag from the cigarette still burning in his overflowing ashtray. “It’s probably too small anyway.”

_“I think I’m in love with you.”_

Arthur chuckled darkly as he topped of his glass and slung it back. He no longer gritted his teeth at the burn in his throat and waited for the vodka to settle in his nearly empty stomach.

_“Arthur?”_

The silver band that adorned his left ring finger was always covered by his fingerless gloves. It was now only for him and no one else.

Once his cigarette burned to the butt between his lips, he stubbed it out in the ashtray and set the ring down on its spot on his desk.  He was going to do it tonight.

Maxson shut of his terminal and shoved back from his desk. Once he’d stripped out of his coat and uniform (which he left in a pile by his chair) he sank onto his mattress. Dust fluttered from the sheets and filled the air around him and as soon as he closed his eyes he knew sleep would evade him yet again.

The first thing he pictured was Haylen’s face as she lay beneath him. The soft _“oh.”_  that came from Aiden’s mouth at the sight.  

He’d been such a fool.

Arthur’s bare hands dragged down his face and he sighed heavily into them. Minor actions that had caused him to tense before he now longed for. The older man’s head on his shoulder while he slept, the way he smiled and how his scars faded into his dimples, and the way he’d run his hand down Arthur’s chest when he thought the younger man was fast asleep.

_“They say my soul was forged from eternal steel..”_

_“You’re more than what they made you, Arthur. I know it.”_

The sound of his teeth grinding brought him back to the present, albeit temporarily. He shifted as if Aiden was still beside him and grabbed the shirt he’d worn his last night in Arthur’s room.

Arthur brought the fabric to his face and inhaled against the soft fabric. His scent was still there but had mostly faded overtime.

He’d been so absorbed in his own anger of the Signal Inceptor, Arthur missed all of the signs that he’d lost Aiden.  The way he’d left the blond before his sudden reappearance with Octavia was shameful.

_“I was disposable. I meant nothing to you.”_

“No.” Arthur swallowed back his tears and exhaled heavily. He could still hear Octavia’s coos and cries as he slid into a bout of unrestful sleep.

“Please…”


	2. Getting to know Your Family History (Even just a little)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: I don't own fallout, bethesda does.
> 
> thank you for anyone sticking around for this fic. my external hard drive crashed that had everything on it so i have to write what i had for this from scratch. i've also had some personal issues with coming out to my family that have made me extremely depressed so I find it hard to write. thank you for sticking with me or if you're just coming into the series.

A hot shower was a luxury even before the bombs fell.  Aiden groaned softly in the shower stall as he ran his sore fingers through his shoulder length blond Mohawk.  He’d managed to take a few moments for himself after putting Octavia down for a nap. Shaun had gone above and beyond for his half-sister from the Pre War era crib to the small rocket ship mobile that his older son was blissfully ignorant of its irony. 

Octavia’s vibrant eyes followed the mobile through three rotations before she was out like a light.

A part of him was thankful for the time to clean off the Wasteland dirt and various medical gels he’d been subjected to upon his arrival However, he mostly tried to keep his mind off of what had happened between him and Arthur.  

The pain from the scars on his face dragged him out of his thoughts before he could delve too deep.  The Glasgow smile he’d been given shortly before being frozen burned as the portion near his lips cracked and started to bleed. He tried not to think about the moments he’d screamed for Nate’s help.  _I’ll have to talk to their doctors about that…_

Aiden had hated the Institute for stealing Shaun and killing Nate for so long, the switch of forced, cold acceptance still burned deep in his unsettled stomach. _How can I still be here?_ _It’s obvious the others tolerate me only on Shaun’s order…_

With a hard sigh, Aiden turned off the water and slid out of the shower.  His common clothes consisting of a worn leather jacket, a plaid shirt, and a pair of black jeans were neatly folded on the bathroom sink _.  I’ve been here all of two hours and you’re having them do this for me, Shaun?_

Just as Aiden slid into the warm clothes, Octavia started to whimper and sniffle. He vigorously dried his hair and grabbed a spare dry towel to put underneath Octavia on his shoulder.

“Sir,” Aiden froze at the voice of his Courser partner, X6-88, “Sir, the child is crying.”

“How did you get _in_ here?” Aiden hissed as crossed pristine floors to the taller man. The synth stood behind Octavia’s crib.

“I was ordered to assist you and the infant.” X6 continued to stare him down as he watched Aiden hold Octavia close.

“Do you even know how to care for a child?” Aiden growled lowly and winced as Octavia began to cry in earnest.  He cursed under his breath as he prepped a bottle on his dresser with one hand.

“I have been ordered to research the subject.” X6 watched through his sunglasses and noted the process and how the Commonwealth dweller held the child to feed her.

“What else has Shaun ordered you to do?” Aiden grunted out as Octavia started to greedily suckle the nipple of the bottle.

“I will provide you with missions that Father has assigned to us.” The synth eyed the pair as he stepped around the crib.  “He wishes to speak with you when the child is under control.”

Aiden flicked his head to the side to free his vision and glared X6 down. Aiden was under the belief his views on synths would conflict against Shaun’s but the courser in front of him gave no hint towards punishment or even acknowledgement.  “I’ll find my son when I’m damn good and ready.”

* * *

 

Shaun shuffled through his father’s medical reports. The thought that Arthur Maxson had almost taken his father away before he could truly sit down and meet him boiled in his blood. He had no anger towards his younger sibling, she had never asked for this just as he hadn’t. He wanted them both to be safe and away from the totalitarian that was his half-sister’s father.  

Something else in the report bothered him. He had mentioned staying in the same place once he found out he was pregnant. The hand written note Doctor Li, the only doctor Aiden seemed to trust, mentioned something he hadn’t wanted to think about.

_Possible miscarriage prior to this pregnancy, urged caution if more children are planned/ occur._

His father had never mentioned this. Shaun bit his lip as he continued to flip through to their family history and forced a laugh. Cancer beamed back at him and he quickly closed the file.

“Ah, Father.” He smiled and motioned to  the seat beside him that gave a full view of the Institute, “Please, sit.”


End file.
